


Questions Later

by OnyxSardonyx



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, M/M, might be continued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-20
Updated: 2013-09-20
Packaged: 2017-12-27 03:46:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/973925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnyxSardonyx/pseuds/OnyxSardonyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Rose makes apple juice, Dave gets Karkat drunk and unexpected feelings occur.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Questions Later

"Dave", she says, "Dave, look, it's apple juice. I made apple juice."

She's drunk again, but that doesn't mean she's lying. In fact, he's never heard her claim she's made apple juice before.

"Give it here", he says. Rose hands the beaker over to him and he takes a sip.

It's apple juice. There's literally no other way to describe it. It's apple juice, cool and sweet and delicious.

"It's perfect, Rose", he says. "Absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much. I love you."

Rose grins sloppily. "I made more", she says and gestures to another, larger, beaker that's sitting next to her. "Just take as much as you l-AAAAH!"

Her wild gesturing has toppled over another beaker next to the apple juice, filled with clear liquid, and it's falling and spilling nearly half of its contents into the apple juice.

"Noooo!", Dave wails in anguish. "Please tell me that was just water and not something awful and poisonous, pleeeeease -"

It occurs to him a second too late that he shouldn't let Rose answer that question by scooping up the apple-juice-and-whatever-else beaker and taking a sip.

She sets the beaker down and wipes her mouth.

"I don't understand what's so special about apple juice anyway", she says. Phew, at least she seems okay. Not poison then.

"What did you put in it?"

"I didn't put anything in it, I just, uh."

"Just tell me what it is."

"Alcohol", Rose says.

Of course. He should've seen that one coming.

"Oh great." Rose has offered him the alcohol she makes before. Dave doesn't like the stuff very much. But maybe in conjecture with apple juice, it's tolerable.

He's not going to let any apple juice go to waste, at least not without trying it first.

So he takes a smaller beaker and dips it into the apple-alcohol and takes a sip.

Holy shit that stuff is awesome.

"Oh my god, Rose", he says. "You've created a miracle."

Rose chuckles sleepily. "Glad you like it."

His first thought is that he will take that huge beaker to his room and drink it all himself. It's perfect and wonderful and he needs to drink all of it. But he looks at Rose and decides that no, maybe that's a bad idea.

He's still contemplating what to do with it when Karkat strolls into the room. And with him, another idea.

A brilliant idea.

"Karkat, look", Dave says. "Rose made apple juice. It's real apple juice! You have to try it, it's the best thing Earth has ever created."

Karkat huffs, but comes over and takes the beaker Dave is offering him. While Karkat drinks, Dave flits to the shelf and takes a jug as well as some glasses - drinking apple juice (or whatever you call that apple-alcohol Rose made) out of beakers is blasphemy. Not to mention all the other things that may have been in those beakers. Dave shudders at the thought.

"So? So? Do you like it?", he pesters Karkat when the troll is done drinking. He takes the beaker while he waits for Karkat to respond and pours its contents into the jug.

"It's." Karkat seems slightly flustered. "It's really good."

"It's perfect", Dave says. He fills a glass and hands it to Karkat while pouring himself a glass as well. He isn't going to let Karkat have all the apple-alcohol. It's far too good for that.

"So this is something you drink frequently on Earth", Karkat says.

Dave nods enthusiastically. "Oh, yes, absolutely. The best thing ever."

Or, he would if he'd known of its existence before Earth was tragically destroyed.

Karkat downs the glass of apple-alcohol in one go and holds it out to Dave. Dave swats at his hand like a fly.

"I'm not your servant. Pour it yourself."

Karkat grumbles and takes the jug from him. He really seems to be enjoying this stuff. Good for Dave's plan. Bad for the apple-alcohol. Dave wonders if Rose can replicate the experiment and make more.

Even if she doesn't, it will be worth it. From what Dave can tell, Karkat is already slightly tipsy.

He's torn between telling Karkat to take more and drinking a shitload of the stuff himself because holy shit it is delicious. He's starting to feel the effect of the alcohol and decides to hell with it. If Rose can be drunk all the time then Dave can afford to be drunk once too.

Speaking of which - Rose has put her head on her arms on the desk and has fallen asleep.

Karkat reaches past Dave for the jug and Dave pushes him off. "Not so fast", he snaps. "It's mine. You have to ask first."

"You little shit", Karkat growls. "You were offering before."

"And now I'm not, and you have to ask nicely."

"I hate you."

He puts down his glass and lunges at Dave, spilling some of Dave's apple-alcohol in the process. Dave swears loudly and fights Karkat off (the skinny troll is nothing, absolutely nothing, in comparison to his Bro) while defending the jug fiercely.

"Give me the jug, fuckmonkey", Karkat snarls.

"Nahh", Dave says. "You didn't ask nicely."

Karkat hisses at him and grabs the jug. Dave jumps out of the way, taking the jug with him and spilling more of the drink in the process.

"Now you've spilled some of it", he complains loudly.

"You spilled it", Karkat says. He prepares to jump at Dave again, and Dave reflexively puts his glass and the jug down before being presented with an armful of very warm and slightly drunk troll.

It doesn't even seem like Karkat cares about the jug anymore. He's pinning Dave to the ground and god, he's strong, a lot stronger than he looks, and Dave can't get away from underneath him as much as he struggles. Karkat simply holds him in place, grinning menacingly.

"You little shit", Dave spits at him, and Karkat leans down and kisses him.

It comes as a surprise, but not entirely an unpleasant one. Dave relaxes into the kiss, fisting his hands into Karkat's shirt and finally getting enough control back to roll them onto their sides.

Their kiss is heated and sloppy and messy and drunk and Dave simply can't get enough of it. Karkat still tastes of the apple-alcohol they drank earlier, and beyond that he tastes sweet and sour and Karkat-y and Dave licks every corner of his mouth to get as much of that taste as possible.

Before today, he thought apple juice was the most exquisite thing he would ever taste.

He's been proven wrong. Twice.

Eventually, Karkat pulls back, and they pant into each other's mouths as they lie on the floor, arms all tangled up with each other.

Then Karkat speaks.

"The fuck did you put into that apple juice."

Dave chuckles and leans in to plant another kiss on Karkat's lips. He just can't get enough of him. He doubts the alcohol has much to do with that.

"There's alcohol in it", he tells Karkat after a few minutes of making out. "Quite a lot of it, too. It was an accident."

"Sure. And getting me drunk was another accident."

"No", Dave says, grinning. "That was entirely on purpose."

"I hate you", Karkat says passionately and drags him closer.

They spend another few minutes just kissing on the floor, neither of them willing to move. But when Karkat growls and shifts closer to Dave and starts grinding his hips into Dave's, Dave thinks it may be time to move locations.

So he pushes Karkat off and attempts standing up. The room is spinning. Rose is still sound asleep.

"C'mon", he tells Karkat. He doesn't even wait for his troll to answer. He simply takes Karkat and pulls him up and takes him by the waist as they stumble towards his room.

Dave's room is closest, it's next to Rose's, which is next to the lab. As soon as the door closes behind them, they're all over each other again, with Dave pressing Karkat against the wall and kissing and biting and wanting nothing more than him, now.

He palms Karkat's crotch and feels something move underneath his fingers. Too drunk to care, he simply rubs his hand over it and swallows Karkat's moans. He's rock hard by now and gasps loudly when Karkat's hand worms its way into his pants.

Karkat stills.

"What is that?", he whispers.

"Shut up", Dave tells him. "Fucking first. Questions later." He rolls his hips into Karkats hand and moans as Karkat's inexperienced fingers touch his dick. Karkat seems to agree with Dave's sentiment, though, and sets to explore Dave's strange anatomy with his fingers as Dave writhes and moans.

He shakes Karkat off for a second.

"Bed", he says breathlessly.

They don't even make it that far. They collapse in the middle of the floor, Karkat on top of Dave again (Dave doesn't mind nearly as much now as he did earlier). Karkat nibbles at Dave's neck; his sharp teeth pierce the skin and Dave gasps at the pain.

Karkat pulls away.

"Shit, Dave, are you okay?"

"I said fucking first", Dave growls and pulls Karkat down to him. He doesn't mind the pain. He kind of likes it even, in a weird and twisted way. It shows that he's the first human Karkat had sex with. In a way, the wounds will later prove to him that this actually happened.

Karkat grunts into Dave's mouth as he rocks his hips against Dave's, and Dave lets his hand wander down into Karkat's trousers.

Where he feels the weirdest thing he's ever encountered.

"The fuck is that!", he gasps.

Karkat silences him with a kiss.

"Fucking first", he then says, a smug grin plastered all over his face. "Questions later."

Dave has to admit, his logic is perfectly sound. So he simply wraps his hand around the - thing Karkat has instead of a dick and runs his thumb over the surface. It's weirdly smooth, but also slick with juices. Dave wants to tear off Karkat's trousers and look at it. He wants to conduct scientific studies of Karkat's trolldick until Karkat comes. He wants to feel it and taste it. He wants to know it. In the biblical sense.

Unfortunately, neither of them thought to turn on the lights when they entered the room, so they're in relative darkness and Dave doesn't have a chance of seeing anything. He still takes off Karkat's trousers because he thinks it's a reasonable endeavour under the circumstances. Karkat reciprocates in kind. Neither of them has any issues with the fact that they're lying naked on the floor in Dave's room.

Dave wraps his hand around Karkat's trolldick again and notices once again how slick it is. He stashes away the information that trolls apparently produce their own lube for future use. For now, he just rubs the trolldick and feels it wind itself inside his hand and whines in unison with Karkat when Karkat starts stroking his dick.

"Oh god, Karkat", Dave hisses when Karkat pulls him closer and wraps his trolldick around Dave's dick. The trolldick seems to work a lot like a tentacle and that's the last coherent thought Dave has before he sees stars and comes all over Karkat's tentacle dick and his own stomach. Karkat follows soon after, spilling liquid all over Dave's torso and then rolling off him, panting hard.

Dave is half asleep already but he reaches for him and is almost surprised when Karkat curls up against him. They're still on the floor, splashed with apple juice and their combined come, but neither of them cares as they hold each other while falling asleep.

 

 

He wakes up feeling warm and fuzzy, but also slightly sticky. Karkat is still there. He's snuggling , curled up against Dave's chest; he can feel his horns digging into his ribs.

He doesn't mind. In fact, he thinks this might be the best morning he's ever had. He's not even hungover. There's just Karkat, only Karkat, and the memory of a drunken shag on the floor.

And Dave thinks he might, just might, have a tiny bit of flushed feelings for this particular troll.

Not that flushed feelings are a thing for him. But in an odd sort of way, troll romance makes sense. Caliginous romance still creeps Dave out and he doesn't think it will ever not. But he really likes the distinction between flushed and pale feelings.

And the troll who's snuggling up to him definitely manages to stir the darker one of those in him.

Karkat moves and his eyelids flutter. Dave resists the urge to smile. By no means is he going to tell Karkat about his feelings. That would be so uncool. He might tell him later, in some twisted, convoluted way that's not uncool.

"Morning", he says.

Karkat looks up at him sleepily and oh my god if he's not the most adorable thing Dave's ever seen.

That is, until he wakes up fully and his face transforms into a mask of horror and disgust.

"Uh. You okay?", Dave asks hesitatingly.

"No", Karkat spits at him. "You - I - we - we had -"

Oh. Dave presses his lips together. "We had sex. Yes."

"Shit", Karkat says. "Shit. How - how dare you lay your filthy human hands on me. I can't believe you -"

He inhales sharply and scrambles away from Dave.

"You got me drunk and then took advantage of me", he accuses him.

Cue sound of Dave's heart shattering to pieces.

Not that Karkat would hear. Not that Dave would show any indication of such a thing happening.

"You seemed to enjoy it at the time", he says. He feels helpless and confused. He doesn't know what's gotten into Karkat.

"I was drunk, you despicable piece of dirt", Karkat snaps.

"Not that drunk", Dave counters desperately.

Karkat simply glares at him and then goes to collect his clothes.

"Don't you ever dare touch me again", he hisses just before he leaves.

The bang of the door snapping shut is too loud for the silence that follows. Dave doesn't cry. He will not cry. He must not cry.

It's only Karkat, he tells himself over and over again. He's hated him from the beginning. He's only being his usual pricky self.

And to show that he's been hurt by Karkat's words is so unthinkable to Dave that he resolves to act as if nothing's happened at all - neither good nor bad.

 

 

They arrive in the post-Scratch session two days later. In those two days, Karkat has been avoiding Dave like the plague and Dave has been nursing his hurt feelings by rapping to himself, doing silly experiments with Rose, mock-flirting with Terezi, and overall just simply by being himself. It's easy enough when Karkat's not around. It gets harder when he is. It's hardest when Dave is all by himself in his room at night and can't sleep because he longs to touch Karkat and fall asleep with him and taste his gorgeous mouth again.

He hasn't paid much attention to the Mayor of Can Town before - he's a regular fellow and everyone likes him, but it's only now, two days before their journey ends, that Dave actually starts to love the silent little exile.

He simply sits with him when he can't sleep and he helps him reside over Can Town and talks. He feels safe talking to the mayor. Mostly because the chances of the mayor telling his woes to anyone else are at absolute zero.

So he talks, he just tells the mayor about Karkat and tells him how he hates and loves him and how his relationship with Terezi barely involved feelings at all and was mostly just something they did out of boredom, that he likes Terezi as a friend and he wouldn't ever want to hurt her but Karkat is different, because he wants to kill Karkat and fuck him into a wall and he wants to smash his ugly little troll face and snog him until he can't see straight. He talks about how happy he felt waking up with Karkat in his arms and how lost he felt when Karkat left. How hurt he feels every time Karkat refuses to talk to him. How the hate he sees every time he looks into Karkat's eyes now tears him apart.

It's so, so uncool for him to talk about his feelings like this, and Dave doubts he could do it with anyone else but the mayor. To everyone else, he's perfectly okay. Rose doesn't know, Terezi doesn't know. Kanaya and Gamzee most certainly don't know. And Dave would die rather than show Karkat how he feels.

As soon as they're off the meteor, things get busy again instantly, and Dave barely has time to worry about anything besides surviving. They get separated and Dave ends up on his own planet, in his own home, with the mayor.

He really couldn't have been more lucky.

He talks to Karkat a few times, but mostly just because they have to organise things. He worries about Karkat. He worries more about Karkat than he does about Rose or Terezi because even though both of them were in a pretty shitty condition when they left the meteor, Dave trusts them to handle their shit.

Also, he doesn't have flushed feelings for either of them, which makes it a lot harder not to worry about Karkat.

Which once again begs the question of when the fuck did he start thinking of his feelings towards Karkat as _flushed_.

(They are, though. They definitely are.)

He's got a few quiet minutes in his house though, and he's surprised when his speaker buzzes.

He can barely understand what the other person is saying, but he can tell it's Karkat.

He suspects he could probably hear him loud and clear if that stupid ass wasn't muffling the speaker. What the hell possessed him to make this thing in the first place.

It is beautifully ironic, but not right now. This is important, because it's Karkat. So Dave grabs the foamy ass and yanks it off the speakers. He'll put it back on again later.

"Dave? Dave, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you now", Dave says. He's a bit reluctant to talk to Karkat. "What's up? Are you in trouble?"

"Not really", Karkat says. Meaning no. He's not. He's just calling to chat.

"Then what do you want?"

"I, uh", Karkat says. Dave has never heard him this reluctant before. "I wanted to, er, apologise."

"Dude, are we really going to have this conversation now?", Dave snaps. "After days on the meteor where we had nothing to do you want to talk to me _now_?"

"Shut up, Dave", Karkat says. He sounds tired. "I just... I don't know if I'll get a chance to tell you later, okay? So I'm doing this now."

"Jesus fuck." Dave sits down. "I never took you for the sentimental type."

"Shut up, Dave", Karkat snarls again. "I'm apologising, okay? Don't ruin it."

"Okay", Dave says. "Okay. I'm listening."

"I, uh", Karkat says.

Dave sits and listens.

"I shouldn't have shouted at you. And walked out on you like that. I was. Er. Confused."

"Confused", Dave echoes. For the first time, his hurt registers in his voice.

"I just didn't know what to make of everything, okay? I hated you and then you were my friend and then you got me drunk and suddenly I wanted you more than anything. It didn't make sense."

"Does it make any more sense now?" Dave doesn't mean to sound so harsh. But he's fighting tears and he doesn't want Karkat to know that.

"Yes", Karkat says softly. "Yes, actually, it does."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Uh. I, um. I've been attracted to you since forever. And I didn't want to admit it to myself because I thought it was all kinds of wrong and I shouldn't be feeling that way. It's - it's difficult to push through those thoughts. So that morning I uh. I just lashed out. Er. But, uh. I've been thinking a lot and. Uh. I don't think it's wrong or anything. We - we, er, we seemed to be compatible just fine." Dave winces at the way Karkat says 'compatible'. "So, uh, I just. I just wanted to apologise. And, er, tell you that I've been - uh. Developing feelings for you. Of the red kind. Or possibly the black. I'm not sure. But - but you humans are incredibly weird in terms of romance anyway."

There's silence. Dave is crying - silent tears streaming down his face. He barely trusts his voice when he speaks.

"Apology accepted." He takes off his sunglasses and wipes at his eyes furiously. "You son of a bitch."

Karkat is silent for a moment.

Then: "Dave. Are you crying?"

"No." He sniffles and barely manages to choke down a sob. "I'm not crying, you asshole. You can't - you can't just have sex with someone and then say something like that in the morning. And then come crawling back a few days later saying you've got _feelings_ and expect that to make everything okay." He doesn't even try to hold back the sobs anymore.

Karkat is stunned into silence. Dave is tempted to take his speaker off and throw it against the wall. Make Karkat hear the sound of something shattering, even though this time, it's not Dave's heart.

"Dave", he says quietly.

"What", Dave scoffs.

"I'm so sorry, Dave. I never - I never wanted to hurt you. I didn't realise you had those kind of feelings for me. And I really shouldn't have said all those things. I'm really sorry."

Dave says nothing.

"I realise this doesn't make things right", Karkat says. His voice is desperate; Dave thinks he may even be close to tears himself. Karkat, who Dave has never known to cry.

But then, no one has ever known Dave to cry, and here he is, a weeping, slobbering mess.

"But I really hope I haven't completely ruined things between us. I just - I just want things to be okay again. Even if we're just friends again -"

"No, fuckass", Dave says. "There's no such thing as 'just friends' between us anymore. We can't go back to where we were. Especially now that we've established we both have feelings for each other." He takes a deep breath. "It's all or nothing from here. I hope you realise that."

"Well", Karkat says. "In that case, I'll take anything you're ready to offer me."

And oh, how much Dave just wants to leave this place now and fly off to LOFAF and throw himself into Karkat's arms. Give him everything.

God, he didn't realise his feelings were that strong. But it is as it is.

He doesn't tell Karkat.

Instead, he says, "Thanks. I, uh. I'll talk to you later."

If they were still writing on Pesterchum, he'd put a <3\. He can't really say that in real life, though.

And he'd never say something as uncool and schmoopy as 'I love you'. _So_ not his style. Besides, Karkat hasn't deserved that yet by a long way.

"Yeah", Karkat says. He sounds as unsure of everything as Dave sounds. "Later."

He disconnects.

At least Dave isn't crying anymore.

"I'm sorry", he says to the mayor. "Sorry you had to see me like this. But then - better you than anyone else, right?"

The mayor says nothing, but Dave is sure he agrees.

 

 

Karkat calls again less than an hour later. Dave has repaired his smuppet ass speaker by then and can't be arsed to take it off again.

Karkat doesn't even say much; he simply says there's a problem (the exact wording was "A REALLY BIG FUCKING PROBLEM") and Dave, who's been longing for an excuse to go to LOFAF, kisses the mayor goodbye and takes off. And because Karkat sounded quite serious when he said there was a problem, Dave calls Rose and tells her to come to LOFAF as well.

Karkat wasn't lying when he said there was a problem; Dave would probably say shit is going down and that would be the most accurate description of what's happening. He doesn't really have time to think about these things though, because _shit is going down_.

 

 

He wakes up later and barely remembers anything. Aranea was there and Jade was dead and Terezi kicked Gamzee's ass is all he remembers.

And Karkat is sitting next to him, the only one around.

"Fuck", Dave says. He's in pain. What the fuck happened.

"Good morning to you too, sleepyhead", Karkat says. "Thought you were never gonna wake up."

Dave sits up, trying to ignore his throbbing headache. "The fuck happened", he said.

"I saved your sorry ass is what happened", Karkat says. He sounds almost gentle. "So Aranea kills Jade, right? Jane told me what happened, apparently she was dead for real, Godtier or no. She knocked you out, or rather had Jake knock you out, and then wanted to kill you. Let's just say she didn't."

"Oh", Dave says. "What about Jade, is she -"

"Safe and sound. Still grimbark, though. Jane did the lifey thing and Jade went straight back to being controlled by the Condesce."

In a way, that's a relief. They still have to deal with the Condesce. And Lord English. And Aranea Serket. And Gamzee. Even though Dave still doesn't have any idea if the latter two are even still alive.

He decides to ask Karkat about that later. Right now, Karkat himself is a more pressing issue. At least to Dave.

"You said you saved my life."

"Don't make me regret it, asshat", Karkat says. He smiles as he says it. Affectionate. Dave feels happiness rise in his chest.

"Oh, I'll just annoy you every day for the rest of your life", he says.

Karkat grins and leans in to kiss him, gentle and short and almost chaste. The only thing keeping Dave from jumping him then and there is his massive headache. So he just sighs and leans in, curling a hand around Karkat's neck, his thumb stroking his cheek.

Karkat pulls away, but keeps close to Dave, leaning his forehead against Dave's.

"Flushed, then?", Dave asks.

"Hmm." Karkat smiles in such a Karkat-untypical way that Dave almost laughs. Almost. "Yes, I think so."

"Good."

He pulls Karkat towards him and kisses him again, and this time it's anything but chaste. Karkat's mouth tastes just as good as it did before. Dave doubts he'll ever get tired of kissing him.

He does pull away after some time, though.

"Thanks for saving my life", he says.

Karkat chuckles. "Motivated purely by self-interest."

Dave laughs warmly and kisses him.

"I love you, you know that?", he says.

"Hmh", Karkat hums into his mouth. "The feeling is mutual, I assure you."

And Dave is happy.

Because whatever else this story has in stock for him, at least he managed to work this out.

And if this little intermission has a happy ending, then he supposes so can the rest of the story.

He only hopes Karkat will survive it with him.

Karkat groans into his mouth and shifts closer to him. Dave knows what he wants. In a way, he wants it too. But he pushes Karkat away.

"Not just now, Karkat", he says. "Sorry. But - I have the World's Greatest Headache and I just want to sleep."

Karkat nods. He only looks a little bit disappointed. "Okay", he says and snuggles closer to Dave. Dave is abruptly reminded of that night on the meteor when they fell asleep on his floor curled up against each other. And also the morning after that.

He possessively winds his arms around Karkat and pulls him as close to him as possible.

"You're not gonna leave, are you?", he asks quietly. Vulnerable. Karkat could take him apart with one word.

Somehow, he's okay with that.

"Not this time", Karkat murmurs into Dave's shirt. Dave has trouble understanding him. "Gotta make things right."

Dave smiles and presses a kiss to Karkat's head, right between his horns.

They fall asleep like that, and Dave manages to forget his anxieties in Karkat's embrace.

 

 

There is no sun that LOFAF is orbiting around, so there is no sun to rise in the morning. Somehow, it still gets lighter, bright enough so they can see.

The first thing Dave notices when he wakes up is that he's cold.

The second thing is that his headache is gone.

And the third thing is that there is no warm, comfortable pressure against his stomach where Karkat was last night.

He opens his eyes. Karkat is nowhere to be seen.

In less than a second, all his anxieties catch up with Dave. What if he got second thoughts. What if he still thinks this is wrong, what if he ran away, what if he'll never talk to Dave again - Dave doesn't think his heart can handle another rejection.

He's just about to get up and go looking for Karkat when the troll strolls into sight. He's carrying something, but as soon as he sees Dave is awake, he drops everything and flits to his side.

"Shit, you're awake", he says. "Shit. Shit, I didn't want you to wake up without me."

Dave breathes a sigh of relief. Karkat hasn't left. He's still here. He's still here.

Karkat sees the pain on Dave's face and kisses it away. Dave melts into the kiss.

"Thought you'd run away", he murmurs.

Karkat pulls away and looks at him sternly.

"I said I wasn't gonna leave", he says. "I'm not gonna leave, Dave, okay? I'm here."

Dave can feel the tears again. He fights them down angrily, but they keep coming back. Eventually, he surrenders.

Karkat holds him as he sobs into his shirt. He holds him firmly and tightly, as if he never intended to let him go.

"I'm here, Dave", he whispers. "I'm here. I'm not leaving. It's okay, Dave. I love you. I love you."

There's little else he can do.

It takes a while for Dave to calm down. He must look absolutely horrendous, his face swollen and wet with tears. He's not even wearing his sunglasses. But Karkat kisses him anyway and Dave kisses back desperately, curling his tongue around Karkat's and pulling him on top of him. He's getting hard and he wants Karkat. Now.

Karkat seems to be thinking the same, if the way he's moving his hips are any indication.

"Why did you leave?", Dave asks Karkat breathlessly. He knows it's not exactly the best time to ask that question. But he wants to know. "And what were you carrying when you came back?"

"Shush", Karkat says and drops a kiss on Dave's lips. "Fucking now. Questions later."

Dave grins. "Agreed", he says and tugs at Karkat's trousers. "You've got far too many clothes on."

"Likewise", Karkat says and pulls back a little bit in order to take off Dave's shirt. The cold air hits his chest and he shivers. Karkat pulls him closer and runs his hands over Dave's back.

And Dave feels reassured that he'll be warm again in no time.

It's light enough for him to actually see Karkat's troll dick when he pulls off Karkat's pants, and it's large and slimy and tentacle-y and covered in red fluid. Red, he realises, because Karkat's blood is red.

It's surprisingly hot. For a tenta-dick.

Karkat pulls down Dave's pants and studies Dave's fully erect cock the same way Dave just studied his trolldick. He touches it and Dave moans loudly, arching in to the touch. God how much he's missed this. Karkat has only done this once before, and still Dave doesn't think it will ever be the same with anyone else.

Karkat rubs his fingers over Dave's balls and Dave laughs softly at his frown. But they stick to their 'questions later' policy and Karkat just touches him, makes sure to see as much of Dave as possible. At the moment, it's more careful exploration than sex, and Dave is perfectly okay with that.

Karkat runs his fingers along the skin behind his penis and pauses.

"You don't have a nook", he says, sounding a bit uncertain.

"Guess not", Dave says. "What's a nook?"

Instead of answering, Karkat takes Dave's hand and puts it between his legs. Dave runs his thumb over the trolldick and then is guided by Karkat to touch the area just behind it. It's... weird. There's an opening coated with slime, and when Dave carefully pushes in a finger, Karkat gives a shout and sinks his teeth into Dave's shoulder.

Aah. Dave smiles, ignoring the pain, and pushes in a second finger. Karkat's troll dick wraps around his wrist, holding him firmly in place.

"Don't stop", he gasps. "Don't you dare stop."

Dave doubts he could even if he wanted to. Karkat's tentadick is strong, holy shit.

He starts to move his fingers, in and out of Karkat's nook, and is rewarded by the sounds Karkat makes. Damn Karkat is _loud_. Dave never even touched his true potential the first time they fucked. He's instantly determined to make Karkat come so loudly that the whole planet will hear.

He keeps exploring Karkat's nook with his fingers. This thing is weird. But awesome. Definitely awesome. He wonders what it tastes like and curls his fingers against Karkat's inner walls, drawing something that's very close to a shriek.

"Dave, stop, stop", Karkat gasps and his tentadick lets go of his wrist. "Otherwise I'm gonna pail in a second -"

Dave grins and pulls out his fingers. They're coated with the same reddish slime that's all over Karkat's tentadick.

He gives it an experimental lick. Mmmh. This is even better than Karkat's mouth. He gets the feeling that Karkat probably tastes delicious everywhere.

He definitely has to test that theory. As soon as possible.

"Dave", Karkat says. "Quit fucking around and get inside of me."

Oh. Okay.

He can do that.

He grabs Karkat by the waist and positions himself so his dick is at the entrance of Karkat's nook. Karkat's tentadick is winding itself, almost touching Dave's cock, and Karkat moans loudly as he sinks down on Dave's dick.

The inside of Karkat's nook is hot and soft and widens willingly to accommodate Dave. It's wonderful and so, so hot. He groans as he starts to move his hips. Karkat's nails are digging into his back and for a moment Dave is grateful that troll nails aren't as sharp as troll teeth.

"God, Dave", Karkat gasps. "You feel so fucking good. So fucking weird. But good." His trolldick is leaking what's probably the troll equivalent of precome, bright red and dripping over Dave's stomach. Dave groans and moves faster, and Karkat echoes his moans, louder and louder and faster and hotter -

Karkat comes - or, well, pails - all over Dave and Dave follows only milliseconds after, emptying himself into Karkat's nook. Karkat groans and rides out his orgasm and Dave bears with him until his dick begins to soften and he pulls out.

Karkat rolls off him and Dave rolls over so he's lying on his belly, facing Karkat. He watches in fascination as Karkat's tentadick starts to retract until it's barely visible.

"That's quite handy", he says.

Karkat chuckles. "Leave it to you to say something like that just after we've had the most amazing sex."

"It is, though! Mine just hangs around all the time." His cock is small and soft now.

Karkat looks at it and laughs a little louder. "God, how do you even walk? You humans are so weird."

"Look who's talking", Dave says. "I mean, you've got a tentadick."

"It's called a bulge", Karkat corrects him. "What's yours called?"

"Penis", Dave says. God he never thought he'd ever say that word unironically. "Or dick."

"You're so weird."

Dave chuckles and leans over to kiss Karkat.

"What do girl trolls have down there then?", he then asks.

Karkat looks at him blankly. "Same as us, of course. Why -" A horrified look crosses his face. "Is it different for girl humans?"

Dave laughs. "Oh yes. They don't have a penis. They've got something called a vagina. I guess it's a lot like your nook. Except... different."

"You're so weird", Karkat says.

"And you're repeating yourself", Dave says and gives him another kiss.

They don't talk for a while after that, just snuggling and basking in the afterglow.

Eventually, Dave sits up. "What was it that you were carrying when you came back?"

Karkat rolls over and glances at the spot where he dropped whatever he was carrying. He gets up silently and walks over to collect the stuff off the floor.

Dave watches him, promising himself he will never, ever get tired of watching the way Karkat moves when he's naked.

Karkat comes back and dumps what he was carrying on the ground next to Dave. A few water bottles and apples.

Apples. God bless him.

"Breakfast", Karkat says.

"Where the fuck did you find these?"

Karkat only smiles mysteriously. Dave growls and takes an apple. "Fine, keep your secrets."

He's far too hungry right now to argue anyway. He takes a bite. The apple is absolutely delicious.

"Where the fuck did you find these", Dave repeats flatly. It's heavenly. Beautiful. Perfection.

Karkat grins.

"I'm gonna fuck that out of you", Dave threatens and Karkat's grin widens.

"Looking forward to it", he says.

Dave takes another bite from the apple, letting the juice coat his lips. Karkat leans in and licks it off his mouth.

"So that's what apple juice tastes like without the alcohol", he remarks.

Dave grins. "Pretty much, yes."

Karkat takes an apple and bites into it. "I think I like it better with alcohol", he says with his mouth full.

"Yeah." Dave leans in to kiss him, stealing bits of apple from Karkat's mouth. "Me too."


End file.
